Anthony Joshua out to put Dillian Whyte away in British heavyweight bout

Joshua wants to steer clear of his troubled past ahead of his bout with Dillian Whyte

THE only thing Anthony Joshua cared about when he first faced Dillian Whyte was staying out of prison.

The man now considered the golden boy of British heavyweight boxing, who has a conviction for drug offences, had an electronic tag on his ankle the night in 2009 when fellow Londoner Whyte became the first and only Brit to beat him inside the boxing ring.

Joshua finally gets his chance at revenge at the 02 Arena on Saturday night, while victory will also claim the vacant British heavyweight title and retain his Commonwealth belt.

Whyte has spent much of the bitter build-up calling Joshua 'scum' for his past misdemeanours - and accused him of being a 'fraud'.

 

But Joshua has no problem confessing that his freedom was on the line six years back when he clashed with Whyte in what was only his fourth amateur fight.

"I don't want to talk about exactly why I was on tag back then but it wasn't even possession [of drugs]," said Joshua. "But when I first started boxing, I was looking at a jail sentence so my only ambition was to be found not guilty. That was it. When I got past that and I was found not guilty I carried on boxing.

"That highlights the change in my life, even mentally. When I say these things, I'm not being rude - but this is only a fight to me, I'm just being real.

 

"It's the underdog mentality. That's why when he says, 'your heart will fail you' and, 'I've always had it against me' I just think, 'so have I'. Who hasn't?

"I never had any intention of being a boxer. I just kept on plugging away. I still won't say I'll be the champion. I'd love to but I'd rather get it and show you instead of talking about what I'm going to do."

In fact, 6ft 6in Joshua could have easily been waking up this morning after finishing another tough week on the building site as a brickie. But he remembers when the bright lights of Las Vegas were enough to make him turn his back on the trade.

 

Joshua and Whyte at Thursday's head to head press conference

"If I'd never walked in that gym I'd probably be brick laying - or I might have been fed up by now," he said. "At the time when I was brick laying, I had the chance to go to Las Vegas with the Finchley [boxing] team, who go every year.

"But when you're self-employed like I was, if you don't work, you lose your job. So I went to Vegas and lost my job. It was one or the other. I chose boxing."

Part-time painter and decorator Whyte, on the other hand, has revealed that fighting chose him after he had a son when he was just 13 and then became a doorman just a year later.

"It has been hard and I've had ups and downs - my first kid is 15 now and I've had to man up and provide for other young human beings from a young age," said Whyte, 27.

"A lot of guys would never have done that and it's the thought of making a better future for my children that drives me."